C III closes Broadwing purchase

C III, a joint venture of Corvis Corp. and Jerry Kent-led management company Cequel III, got a better price than what it initially offered for Broadwing in February. C III originally agreed to purchase Broadwing' assets for $129 million, but that sum was reduced to about $91 million. The agreement is still subject to certain state and local regulatory requirements, the parties said.

Under the deal, C III will obtain 18,700 route miles of fiber, switches and amplifiers, as well as a network operations center. Those assets serve north of 1,000 commercial customers in 137 of the largest 150 markets in the U.S.

C III is also purchasing net working capital of $17 million for which payment, with interest, will be deferred for one year. Corvis, meanwhile, is evaluating the possibility of reducing its ownership percentage.

On the leadership front, Mark Spagnolo was appointed interim CEO of Broadwing Communications. He has held exec slots with companies such as Electronic Data Systems, UUNET, SiteSmith and Flag Telecom.